Iraqi government forces, backed by allied voluntary fighters from Popular Mobilization Units, have mounted a large-scale offensive in the central part of the war-ravaged Arab country to hunt down the remnants of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

The media bureau of Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement on Wednesday that army, federal police, special forces, Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters had launched “a vast operation to clear out the region east of the Diyala-Kirkuk” highway.

The statement added that the operation, dubbed "Vengeance for the Martyrs," is backed by Iraqi Air Force fighter jets and helicopter gunships.

Iraqi government forces and their allies cleared large part of the area during the early hours of the offensives, destroying nine militant hideouts and a car rigged with explosives.